Bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) are reported to show preventive activities against inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), colon cancer or degenerative disease such as Alzheimers dementia.
These findings are attributed to the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of one of the main ingredients, the anthocyanins.
However, anthocyanins are sensitive to environmental conditions, thus their bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract is an important determinant of their in vivo activity.
In the study reported here, the potential benefits of encapsulating an anthocyanin rich bilberry extract (BE) on anthocyanin stability were investigated.
Non-encapsulated BE and three different BE loaded microcapsule systems were incubated anaerobically in intestinal fluid, namely ileostomy effluents from volunteers.
After exposure to these media released anthocyanins were identified and quantified by HPLC with UV/VIS detection.
A constant degradation of anthocyanins from BE was observed to 29.7% of the applied amount within 24 h.
In contrast to this, encapsulation of anthocyanins lead to a constant liberation for at least 6 h of about 14.5 to 20.5% of the initial concentration of anthocyanins from the matrix.
These results illustrate the ability of encapsulation to provide a constant (triggered) release of anthocyanins into the intestinal system, but in contrast to the non-encapsulated BE lower low amounts being liberated.